Cultural Diplomacy & Denmark’s International Cultural Exchange in the US

The Royal Embassy of Denmark in Washington D.C. and the Consulate General of Denmark in New York work together to disseminate the knowledge and presentation of Danish arts and culture in the United States, as well as facilitate direct cultural exchanges and projects between Danish and US artists, cultural institutions and stakeholders.

Our joint goal is to ensure the highest possible quality and best visibility for Danish arts and culture in the US, including securing the right partnerships with US cultural institutions, artistic collaborators and stakeholders.

In the field of cultural diplomacy, our two diplomatic representations cover the United States according to this geographical division.

Among our services are:

• Advice about general guidelines for Denmark’s international Cultural Exchange programmes, as well as counselling in regards to specific DK-US cultural collaborations and exchange projects.

• Advice about professional networks and match-making between specific DK and US artists and cultural stakeholders.

• Advice about public and private funding opportunities.

• Advice about artist residency opportunities for Danish artists and curators in the US, and for US artists and curators in Denmark.

• Cultural grants and financial support on a modest scale in the form of “seed money” for new cultural projects and collaborations. NB! Available for professional artists and cultural stakeholders only.

To be considered for a cultural grant from either the Royal Embassy of Denmark in Washington D.C. or the Consulate General of Denmark in New York, you must submit a specific application to the representation which covers your geographic area, consisting of a concise project proposal (max. 3 pages); an outline of all participating artists, partnerships and stakeholders; as well as a budget outline detailing estimated expenses and income for the project under consideration.

Framework for our Cultural Diplomacy Services:

Due to a very high volume of requests and our limited time and resources, we are not in a position to assist everyone asking for our services. Decisions about who receives advice, as well as the scope and extent of our advice in specific cases, are made on the basis of ongoing, individual project evaluations. We strive to assist as many artist and cultural stakeholders as possible, as well as to ensure the shortest possible response time (i.e. usually 3-5 business days).

As a point of departure, we do not charge fees for our advice and services in Cultural Diplomacy. However, there may be areas of overlap with the commercial activities of our Trade Council, esp. within the fields of design, architecture and fashion, which may lead us to define a specific project as falling under the payment program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If in doubt whether such consultancy fees apply to your specific project, please feel free to contact us for preliminary advice.

We do not:

• Serve as Agents or Art Management Bureaus for individual artist and performers.

As a general rule, we do not book concerts, performances, exhibition, film screenings or tours on behalf of individual artists unless these are part of a larger project or strategic focus area where the diplomatic representations and/or cultural government agencies and institutions in Denmark are directly involved either as hosts or sponsors.

• Program or curate our own cultural events.

As neither the Embassy nor The Consulate General are branches of the Danish Cultural Institute, we rarely claim full ownership to cultural events or projects. Exceptions to this general rule are projects that form part of a larger strategic focus area where the diplomatic representations and/or cultural government agencies and institutions in Denmark are directly involved either as hosts or sponsors.

• Offer full financial support for cultural projects, productions and collaborations.

As a general rule, cultural grants and other financial support from the Embassy or Consulate General will take the form of “seed money,” and must to be supplemented by local funding sources and/or other public or private funding sources from Denmark. For a comprehensive overview of government arts funding possibilities in Denmark, please see www.kunst.dk.

Due to limited time and resources, we are not in a position to offer full-package press and PR support for cultural projects. Rather, our advice in this area is based on specific needs and select media outreach, or may involve references to professional publicity bureaus locally.

• Organize full visiting programmes to US destinations for Danish cultural, media or educational institutions non-governmental stakeholders. Select advice, contacts and services within this area may be available upon request or available through our commercial department according to a fee-based agreement.